The Value of Personal Health Records and Difficulty Patients Experience Collecting Them

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A recent study by Zweena LLC found it can take more than 18 hours and approximately $1,320 for patients to collect their own medical records.

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“Most of us only think about our health and our medical records when we are reacting to a health crisis. By then, it is too late to harness the power of our assembled health information,” said John Phelan, Zweena Health CEO.

Princeton, NJ (PRWEB)October 19, 2013

Recent research from Zweena LLC found it takes the average American family 18 hours and more than $1,300 to track down their medical records.

“Most of us only think about our health and our medical records when we are reacting to a health crisis. By then, it is too late to harness the power of our assembled health information,” said John Phelan, Zweena Health CEO.

Zweena Health compiled data from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and HealthIT.gov to understand how much time and money it costs the average American family of four to collect their medical records across all their doctors, physicians & medical providers.

12 hours and 15 minutes to call each medical provider to request access to their medical records

6 hours and 7 minutes to fill in all their medical record request forms

Between 10 and 60 days for doctors to respond to the request for medical records

When accepted, patients incur an average of $1,320 in fees from doctors

Besides the hassle of collecting your own medical records, keeping an up to date personal health record (preferably in a digital, sharable format) can help physicians provide better quality of care and prevent life threatening medical issues like the one Ginger Vieira, a diabetic, experienced:

“I went to the ER and two medical students were arguing over how much insulin to give me,” Vieria said. “Because I didn’t have a medical background and was only 15, they ended up giving me way too much and two hours later I was crashing.”

Sachin Jain, MD, a former Senior Advisor to the Administrator Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, explains the value of having a consolidated medical record:

“My father is a diabetic with bad coronary artery disease who’s gotten care at three different hospitals. When the folks at Hospital X don’t know what happened at hospital Y, they’re not giving him really good care,” Jain says.

Zweena LLC specializes in the collection, digitization and mobile access of patients’ medical records, offering both full service & do-it-yourself options depending on patient’s needs and budget. It’s your health; let us take care of you.